New Releases from New Day Films - Winter, 2024
The new additions to New Day Films’ Winter 2024 collection highlight remarkable stories of resilience and creativity in response to some of today’s most pressing political and social challenges. These films feature protagonists who are directly impacted by issues such as war (combatants and veterans), water quality in vulnerable communities, immigration, climate change advocacy for clean energy, affordable housing, police violence, LGBTQ+ rights, and disability rights.
Like the other titles in the New Day Films catalog, our new additions illuminate, inspire and challenge.
We invite you to watch trailers and learn more about these films:
byPaco de Onis, Pamela Yates, 110 min.
The United States border is not just geographic– it is everywhere. And a massive surveillance, militarized and carceral apparatus has been built to capture, imprison and deport millions. It lies within every undocumented immigrant family with the threat that at any moment they can be captured, incarcerated, deported; their lives destroyed. Borderland l The Line Within exposes the profitable business of immigration and its human cost– and weaves together the stories of immigrant heroines and heroes resisting and showing a way forward, building a movement that recognizes the human rights of all.
Duties of My Heart
by Judy Lieff, 10 min.
Originally shot on 16mm, Duties of My Heart breathes life into Barbara Barg’s poem through the expressive and evocative interplay of American Sign Language (ASL) and dance, resulting in a compelling poetic offering that weaves a tapestry of sorrow, resilience and revival. This visually captivating presentation also incorporates the voice of the poet, music and sound design, powerful for hearing audiences. Each movement and gesture breathes life into the verses, not only honoring the original poem's lyrical beauty but also redefining it with unique visual artistry, making the film a poignant and unforgettable cinematic experience. Best Performance - Cine-Poetry Festival, San Francisco
How to Power a City
by Melanie La Rosa, 73 min.
How To Power A City explores the front lines of the clean energy revolution. From zeitgeist solar adopters to hurricane survival and communities fighting to keep the lights on, the film showcases a diverse group of people leading the way, from the urban sprawls of New York City, Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and Detroit/Highland Park to rural towns in mountainous Vermont and communities throughout Puerto Rico. It is a compelling inside look at the nuts and bolts of rooftop solar, wind farms, and power plants, as well as the organization that goes into realizing these innovative projects, portraying a vision of a clean energy future nationwide.
Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million
by Jason R.A. Foster,69 min.
Many Fires This Time: We the 100 Million is a beautiful and compelling poetic documentary that sheds light on the economic insecurity faced by 1 in 3 Americans. Drawing inspiration from James Baldwin's prophetic words about an impending fire, Many Fires takes the viewer on an insightful journey with poet A Scribe Called Quess? and fellow activist/poets, traveling from Oakland to Chicago to Kentucky to New Orleans, providing lyrical insight into the lives of ordinary people who are advocating for fairness and justice in such vital social concerns as housing, gentrification, police violence, environmental crises, job security, education, and LGBTQIA equality.
What I Want You to Know
by Catie Foertsch, 89 min.
This intimate journey alongside Iraq and Afghanistan War combat veterans, who share deeply personal stories from their deployments, lays bare the extent of what war does to those who do the actual fighting, particularly with regard to moral injury, the profound psychological and emotional wound that many veterans carry from their wartime experiences. “Essential viewing… particularly for young adults who may have little ‘lived memory’ of the [post-9/11] wars.” - Dr Jennifer Yoder, Professor of Government and Global Studies, Colby College. WINNER: Award of Excellence, Impact Docs (2024)
Whose Water?
by Kate Levy, 65 min.
Across the United States, millions of people lack access to safe, affordable water and sanitation. Whose Water? follows communities in five drastically different regions of the country, as they battle a powerful farm lobby, polluting mining companies, and unresponsive government bureaucracies for safe, affordable water and sanitation. It is a story of how the erosion of democracy prevents people from accessing their basic human rights, and what can be done when people organize and fight back.